During the early part of the 2011 foaling season, the University of Kentucky Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (UKVDL) reported an increased number of abortions and abnormal placentas due to nocardioform placentitis. The UKVDL epidemiology laboratory constantly surveys the occurrence of animal diseases and notes and monitors trends immediately.

Nocardioform placentitis is a unique form of bacterial placentitis affecting late gestation mares, causing abortion, stillbirth, or foals born alive but compromised. The disease was first diagnosed in Central Kentucky in the 1980s and has also been reported in other areas of the United States and abroad. Nocardioform placentitis cases are diagnosed annually, with some years experiencing few cases and other years noting higher numbers. The 2011 foaling season was associated with an unusually large number of cases, and before the foaling season was over, a total of 94 abortions were caused by nocardioform placentitis. Two hundred and twenty nine placentas were submitted with a diagnosis of nocardioform placentitis at the UKVDL. 

In February 2011 the University of Kentucky Gluck Equine Research Center and UKVDL coordinated a meeting with a small group of local veterinarians to discuss the status of nocardioform placentitis abortions in Central Kentucky and devise potential studies. The Gluck Center hosted an informative follow-up meeting for veterinarians and farm managers a few weeks later.

Researchers at the Gluck Center, in collaboration with UKVDL and local practices, submitted a grant proposal to the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association (KTA) at the end of March outlining a comprehensive plan to investigate nocardioform placentitis’ route of infection, conduct an epidemiological study, investigate early diagnostics and effective treatments for placental disease, and conduct a retrospective study on the athletic success of foals born to mares that had been successfully treated for placentitis

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